We now turn to the Sky Sports game as we take a look back at last weekend’s action before preparing managers for the incoming Gameweek.
As always, we’ll examine the recent run of Man of the Match (MoTM) awards, the bonus point beneficiaries, transfer trends and Watchlist, before moving on to the Scout team and our future plans.
Gameweek 29 Man of the Match Awards
These were the players who caught the eye of the Sky Sports reporters and earned an extra five points as a result.
| Fixture | MoTM |
| Leicester vs Stoke | Xherdan Shaqiri |
| Burnley vs Southampton | Oriol Romeu |
| Brighton vs Swansea | Glenn Murray |
| Bournemouth vs Newcastle | Dan Gosling |
| Liverpool vs West Ham | Mohamed Salah |
| West Brom vs Huddersfield | Rajiv van La Parra |
| Watford vs Everton | Troy Deeney |
| Crystal Palace vs Tottenham | Wayne Hennessey |
| Man United vs Chelsea | Romelu Lukaku |
| Arsenal vs Man City | Leroy Sane |
The most popular player in the game, Mohamed Salah (52.5%), picked up his tenth MoTM award of the season and has now overtaken Kevin De Bruyne, who sits on nine.
The third most owned player, Romelu Lukaku (34.1%), snapped into action with a tidy 17-point haul. He was also the second most-captained player overall, so will have caused some pretty hefty rank sways, although I suspect much of his ownership are “ghost ship” squads.
Aside from those two big names, it was largely differentials who earned the gong.
Gameweek 29 Bonus Points
Let’s take a look at any player to earn 40 points or more in bonus for the season
Fantasy Football Scout members can access all information regarding bonus points using player stats and clicking the Sky Sports tab.
The Transfer Trends
Top Transfers Out
| Name | Team | Value | % of Managers |
| Sterling | Man City | 9.8 | 11.7% |
| Jones | Man United | 7.5 | 5.5% |
| Aguero | Man City | 12.8 | 3.4% |
| Fernandinho | Man City | 8.7 | 3.3% |
| Richarlison | Watford | 7.6 | 2.7% |
Top Transfers In
| Name | Team | Value | % of Managers |
| Firmino | Liverpool | 11.6 | 4.7% |
| Doucoure | Watford | 7 | 4.7% |
| Eriksen | Spurs | 10.8 | 3.8% |
| Aguero | Man City | 12.8 | 3.3% |
| De Bruyne | Man City | 11.5 | 3.1% |
Average Transfers Remaining
Top 10 – 10.30
Top 100 – 10.83
Top 1,000 – 10.16
Top 5,000 – 9.64
Top Five Captains Picked
| Name | Team | Value | % of Managers |
| Kane | Spurs | 12.9 | 28% |
| Lukaku | Man United | 12.4 | 15% |
| Aguero | Man City | 12.8 | 13.3% |
| De Bruyne | Man City | 11.5 | 7.3% |
| Salah | Liverpool | 9.4 | 3.2% |
Watchlist
In this section I aim to highlight a few differential players with low ownership who I believe present strong options for the forthcoming few Gameweeks.
Three specific price brackets will be used to cater for our available budgets.
The players will evolve with fixtures and form, and offer Fantasy managers a nudge in the right direction.
| Budget | Mid-Price | Premium | |
| Defender | Martin Jorgensen 5.7m 4.7% | Andrew Robertson 7.8mm 2.7% | Virgil van Dijk 8.9m 2.8% |
| Midfielder | Jordan Ibe 7.5m 0.7% | Aaron Ramsey 9.1m 2.6% | Mesut Ozil 11.1m 2.1% |
| Forward | Oumar Niasse 7.4m 0.6% | Josh King 10.3m 1.5% | Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang 12.2m 1.9% |
My Team
Karius
Davies Ward van der Hoorn Christensen
Walcott Eriksen De Bruyne Salah
Kane Firmino
ITB: 1.7
Transfers remaining: 9/40
Last week’s points: 88
Overall points: 2392
Rank: 211th
Notes
A slight bump in rank for me thanks to a strong showing from my three Spurs and Liverpool assets.
But the rest of the team failed to deliver this week, although I’m generally pretty happy with my Overhaul team.
Theo Walcott was a late addition and is on the thinnest of ice in my squad. In fact, I may look to bring in Aaron Ramsey if he starts against Brighton, particularly as an Arsenal player looks key with the new fixture dates giving them several individual matchdays.
Ideally, I would like the low-owned Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang as well, but that would probably mean losing Firmino, which seems foolhardy given his recent form.
There’s lots to ponder for me, then, but I’m anxious about using any transfers. They’re a precious commodity as I’m below the average for swaps remaining.
I’m also convinced there will be great opportunities towards the back end of the season to bring in differential captains on single matchdays.
Slow and steady wins the race.
Captain Plan
Sat 3rd – Kane (HUD)
Sun 4th – De Bruyne (CHE)
Mon 5th – None
Weekly Articles and Podcast
As well as the weekly Focus article, I’ll be talking through the week’s action, and upcoming plans with FFS posters Buffrey and Lewis on our regular podcast – the latest episode can be found here.
The Fantasy Football Scout League
Our Fantasy Football Scout League is currently topping the League of Leagues as we look to defend our crown in 2017/18.
